Tag: lessons

The Field

lizaaitken

Life is like walking barefooted across a field. Wild flowers spread out across the field in front of us, some in the sunshine and those under the tree. Each flower we come across is a different experience, a person we meet, a moment in time.

Each flower is a lesson, a message from the divine, a memory coming to the surface. We cannot possibly experience each and every flower, there are too many to encounter, some will be here next time we cross. 

Make the most of each flower you see on your way across the field, look closely at it, see how it shimmers in the sun, listen to it but do not pick it. As you reach the other side, take a deep breath, hold onto what you have learnt, it may be a while before you cross again.

~ Liza

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lizalizaskysaregrey©2017

The Suffering of Others

lizaaitken

We are all pretty well off, we have access to the internet, a roof over our heads and usually our basic needs taken care of. I’m sorry if I’m pooling you into a group you don’t feel comfortable in but the fact that your reading this tells me you at least have this opportunity in your lives.

What about those that don’t have the same opportunities, those suffering in some way, those who live the most difficult and painful lives? I really struggle with this at times, wonder why the world is so unfair, why people suffer.

The only conclusion I can really reach is that they are suffering for me, their lives teach me something, they are the masters.

There must be a reason, if your spiritual, you’ll agree with purpose, you’ll understand the journey of the spirit. I don’t believe it is always a pleasant one, I think some people come to earth, not for the experience, not for the development of their own souls but for humanity.

I know a young woman, I’ve spoken about her before and called her Ann. Well Ann was abused from birth, she is brain damaged from the abuse she suffered from those that were supposed to care for and love her, her parents. I have worked with abused children traumatised by abuse for years and I can tell you Ann’s case file is one of the worst I have read.

Ann has epilepsy and we have been informed that she will at some point suffer sudden death because of this. Ann is in her 20’s and has not had a life, she functions as a toddler might and does not get pleasure from life. When I think about this I have to ask why and the only conclusion I can reach is to teach those around her something. I think she has probably taught us all different lessons but her life is certainly etched on my soul.

She has taught me in so many ways and will continue to do so. I’m lucky I know Ann, I’ve known her since she was 7 years old when I worked with her. My best friend fostered her and has her to this day so I’m a sort of auntie.

I’m only using Ann as an example but look out into the world and see how many people are suffering, the number is growing. If it is choice that they suffer then this must tell us we are not learning, we are allowing suffering to go on without really taking notice.

Brighton where I live has a big homeless population, everybody comments when they visit, but do those living here really notice in the same way? Interesting isn’t it how we can become oblivious to the suffering of others. Somebody throws themselves under a train and people complain because it holds up the line, I don’t get it.

If our own lessons are supposed to teach us, why don’t we take more notice and learn from the experiences of others. Because I think until we do its going to get worse out there, if they are here to teach us, something has to make us take notice.

What has it taught you, do you have any messages to share, anything that you learnt  from the suffering of other?

lizalizaskysaregrey©2017

The Great Flower Show

lizaaitken


When we first plant a flower, 

our wish is that it will grow.

With nurture and love in abundance, 

it’s spirit should start to show.

Ensuring that all its emotions, 

are balanced with care that we give.

Giving it room to maneuver,

to spread itself out as it lives.

But what of the one in the wild woods,

trapped in among the weeds.

Fighting for its very existence,

an accident of blowing seeds.

This child of the flower kingdom,

born into a life full of tests.

Smothered by those that surround it,

in soil that’s not really the best.

Come the end of the season,

when it’s time for the great flower show.

Which one will receive adoration,

the one loved or struggling to grow.

Nature is full of examples, 

of tests that are lessons to me.

When I watch as that small flower struggles,

it’s not really all that I see. 

Lessons from your Blogs

lizaaitken

I’ve learnt a lot today and I’ve only been up about an hour.

Learnt from reading your blogs, wow, what amazing power.

Isn’t it just fabulous, that I learn from what you say.

Like on photography, in taking shots, the very best of ways.

And commenting, how I should, to show an author I care.

Via posts, on how, to carefully put my words out there.

On love and life, on success and on every other topic.

Finding messages in your posts however microscopic.

My agenda, to read some more, while I drink my coffee.

I’ve dived into the blogging world, so what on earth can stop me.

Meeting Me

lizaaitken

Today I met myself on my way down the hill.  I was retracing my steps and thinking about where I could have gone wrong on the way.  I’m not sure if I was unconsciously trying to find myself or if we just bumped into each other by accident, but it happened as destiny does.

Both rounded the corner at exactly the same time, it was as if the planets were aligned.  I was preoccupied and lost in thought and she was in a hurry to meet him. The moment stretched like an elastic band, pulled and ready to burst.  I saw her touch herself to make sure she was still there. We were both surprised, her more than me I think as surprises lessen as life goes on.

I studied her, the fresh face, the thick, dark curly hair and the air of excitement that she carried. She was in love, it was not long after they had met and she still wore that look of nervous expectation.  I remembered the day well, today the relationship would be sealed.  I looked and remembered how long it had taken her to decide what to wear, I also knew what she had in her overstuffed handbag.  I smiled, I wanted to tell her he wasn’t really worth it, that in the end she would find she didn’t really know him but I couldn’t do that, she would have to find that out herself. She would have ten years of happiness with him anyway, well most of it happy and she would have our beautiful child. I envied her the opportunity to hold our baby once more, the freedom and the life she had in front of her.  She had so many choices to make, so many experiences to grab. I thought back to the day when I had been standing in her shoes and tried to look out of her eyes and find myself, I must have missed this moment last time.  Funny how many things we miss as we rush through life getting to our destination.

A thought jumped into my mind, if she hadn’t seen me when we were here before, what else could change, what if she made different choices. I wanted to know what would happen if she changed the course of events that brought me here now, where would I be if anything changed.  I looked down at myself and prayed I wouldn’t dissolve into nothingness.  I wanted to tell her how to do it right, how to keep me alive, but I knew I couldn’t. I didn’t even remember all of it, life was a whirl back then, full of ups and downs. I wanted to tell her it would be okay, that the tears of her lessons would dry and she would realise that she had her whole life before her.  I wanted her to meet him, he was a big stepping stone to our future, but again I stayed silent.

She looked at me, my thinning hair, dyed to hide to the inevitable grey and extra pounds I carried.  She was such a willow of a girl if only she knew how beautiful she was, if she could only see the light that shone out.  I thought of a number of outfits I could have put on today that might have left a better impression, I didn’t want to scare her.  I imagine she thought I had let myself go and I wanted to tell her how hard it was to remain slim, I wanted to let her know I was only a size 10/12 after all not that much bigger in the scheme of things, just softer in places.  I didn’t utter a word, just stood a little taller and pulled tight on what was left of my stomach muscles. She had a cigarette in her hand and I knew another twenty Marlborough Red in her bag at least, I desperately wanted a drag.  I hadn’t smoked now in years but that moment I was a smoker again.

I thought of what I could tell her, asked myself what lessons she needed, but realised she would probably laugh, after all I was as old as our mum now and when did she ever listen to mum.  I wanted to tell her about all the people that she shouldn’t waste her time on and those that would be with her all the way.  I wanted to tell her how her family were truly her real friends, but she would have to find that out herself. In fact she would have to find it all out herself, as that is what would take her up the hill I had just walked down from. I understood, that it is the challenges that are before her, that will mould her and create the me of today and I couldn’t help her with any of it.

Neither of us had spoken, we just stood transfixed staring at each other in that moment. I smiled gently at her and without a word I walked away. I hoped that my smile conveyed the love I had for her, the love that I had for myself.

I didn’t turn around as I walked back up the hill again, I knew at some stage she would follow me.

Soul Trauma

lizaaitken

Are there traumatised souls beyond this world…

Much of my work in life has been with traumatised children, many of whom have been traumatised through their early life experiences. Born into unloving homes, with parents incapable of providing the love a child needs to thrive or abused at the hands of adults who should have cared for them.

Although early intervention, love and understanding can help in recovery for children who have suffered traumatic experiences, I believe in some way the soul carries these scars forward, certainly in this life and maybe beyond. If the purpose of the challenges on earth is to develop the soul so that it becomes enlightened, surely it can only do this through these memories and how they impact upon this life.  What understanding we gain from them and how we change.

They say that stress can bring on disease to the body and I have seen that enough to believe it possible, but what about the soul. Does the soul carry the trauma on with it or can it, when not connected to the body understand the reason for the challenges.  Are these challenges just for us, our own learning, or are they for the people around us and part of their lessons.

Mediums or channellers of spirits might say that they have a connection with a soul who passed and give evidence to loved ones of an illness that took the spirit over. If this is a memory for the family, providing evidence of life after death, it must remain in some way with the soul of the spirit that has passed.  I hope that after death illness disappears as it is only an illness of the body but I have a feeling the memories must surely remain.

My mother has always had a fear of not being able to breath, terrible claustrophobia.  Today my mother sits with an oxygen cylinder by her side assisting her breathing, her lung capacity is at a minimum and she has a lung disease that will eventually end her life.  That the fear became a reality is strange, is it a coincidence or something more meaningful, did she know all that time ago, was she in fact involved in the plan.  I know for sure that I have learnt from her pain and will continue to learn as I care for her.

The soul of the child is born into a family who cannot show love and therefore the child cannot learn love unless, provided with this experience. The child cannot show empathy, trust and understanding to others, as it has no knowledge of these things in this lifetime. But what about the soul of the child, the soul that has lived many lifetimes before this one, does it not retain some of those memories. Do the challenges and lessons of previous lives help us through the ones that follow.

What about our resilience, do we develop it here on earth or is this something we bring with us, learnt from the many challenges of the paths we have walked before. What is natural resilience anyway, I’m resilient, but I also know I have achieved this through my own experiences here. I am able to deal with some traumatic situations by removing myself from the pain of them. Or am I still kidding myself, will the pain slap me around the face one day.

The brain of the child does not receive the signals required from the parent in order to grow and development is delayed. What happens to the soul is it underdeveloped too, does it know it has been let down, is it raging inside that this life might negatively dictate its future journey.

Does the soul not recall love, does it not know there is love in the world. I know as a child, I had a friend, invisible to the adults around me but she loved me. I was born into a loving family and I did forget her, maybe when life on this world became the larger part of my experience and therefore had to be the truth. But I hope this shows we are born with an understanding of love and that we bring some of it with us.

I don’t think the soul is a blank canvas at birth I think it retains some of the wonder of worlds beyond and lives before. It just forgets as the new world unfolds around it. Hopefully a child will receive love, know that there is someone there for them unconditionally and grow up into a loving and understanding world.

I hope that the memories the soul carries help in this life, even if forgotten for now they provide a memory of what is possible and hope.

When people live traumatic lives, through loneliness, war, loss, mental health and illness how long does it take to recover and what happens to the soul. If each lifetime is a lesson, can one lifetime destroy the lessons learnt before.

When you hear stories about life beyond this world you hear of ills being cured, those that were blind seeing, those who could not walk walking. What about those that were not loved, I assume they, find love and are loved in return. I’m guessing they will have more time to recover before the next life………….

I found this piece of writing in my drafts, it was before my mother passed over.  I probably wrote it at a time I attempting to come to terms with grief, thinking about my own personal trauma and that of my mothers.  I haven’t answered all of the questions yet, I might not.